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30 April 2016

Motzstrasse 15.

Success at the Lutherstrasse 30 encouraged Konjetschni
to find larger premises, and he opened in the former Grand Cafe Luitpold early
in 1928. Both Lutherstrasse 30 and Motzstrasse 15 were open, and many customers
visited both. Marlene Deitrich and other celebrities were sometimes seen here.
The “HIER ISTS RICHTIG!” banner was now outside.

Ossy Gades transferred to the new premises.

Mugette

1929. Sinclair Lewis’ novel Dodsworth, takes the eponymous character
on a Berlin pub crawl. In an unnamed transvestite bar, probably Eldorado: “And
there was a girl in lavender chiffon – only from the set of her shoulders Sam
was sure that she was a man”.

Mugette was a star performer. Her photograph by Elli Marcus was featured in
Der Querschnitt 2/1931.

1930. “Our Excursion to ‘El Dorado’” by French writer Bernard Zimmer, Le Crapouillot, 23. He visited both
locations. “The life of these “transvestites” is interesting to observe: Most
live in couples with a thousand jealousies and intrigues. Some are small-time
prostitutes, others husbands, and a few are fathers with families. And the
prostitutes are treated like members of any other respected profession.” “The
other Eldorado [on Motzstrasse] is more elegant. Sophisticated types spend the
evening there for the performances and to savour a bottle of German champagne.
On a small stage, some danseuses in tutus twirl on point: Again transvestites.
(Many are from Paris.)”

Another observation from a Berliner: “You’d see always famous people
there, like Max Pallenberg. Not much of a show, but the most fascinating thing
was ... you had lesbians looking like lesbians with short hair, lesbians looking
like beautiful women, lesbians dressed exactly like men and looking like men.
You had men dressed like women so you couldn’t possibly recognize they were men,
it was so realistic. Then you would see couples dancing and you wouldn’t know
any more what it was “.

1931. Lutherstrasse 30 was closed.

September 1931, the Berlin journalist, Rumpelstilzchen, took his
visiting provincial uncle Artur to the Eldorado. Artur did not understand the
gender of the persons, but found them to be stunning.

The English journalist Denis Safton Delmer, was friendly from previous visits
with Ernst Röhm,
commander of the Sturmabteilung
(SA). Röhm took Delmer to a restaurant and then on to Eldorado. One of the
hostesses came over uninvited and chatted with Röhm about a party a few days
previously. Delmer made a comment about about how no female hooker would talk
like that to a previous customer in front of a stranger. Röhm
snapped: “"I'm not his client. I'm his commanding officer. He's one of my SA
men. "

Michael Fry, son of White Russian Paquita Louise de Shishmareff,
who blamed Jews for both Capitalism and Communism, visited with revulsion. In
his 1934 Hitler’s Wonderland he blames gay decadence on the existence of
Hirschfeld’s Institute, and beyond that as a Jewish plot to undermine German
culture: “ The corrupt administration of the cities did not censure the
Institute, so why should it forbid Pervert-Clubs, Homosexuality Leagues or
‘Daisy’ Bars?” (p19) “Now that your eye is trained, you can pick out fifty of
these ‘Daisies’ at a glance-most of them are rather unattractive. That is
because we are in the ‘Eldorado’, the popular resort. For those who can afford
them, there are smaller, more exclusive night-clubs, where you find no creatures
with rough chins dressed in imitation Paris models. There you would see the
cream of the "Daisies" -the beau-monde of homosexuality­ - the better class of
male prostitutes of which Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, Cologne, etc. are
full.”

May 1932. American Vogue attempted a send-up of the Eldorado. A reporter goes
in search of Berlin’s most perfect female. Measuring everything from shoes to
nose length, the reporter fails to find a suitable woman in the grand hotels, in
the chi-chi cafés. Finally he checks the Eldorado, where a trans woman meets his
criteria. However the Berlin that the article described was already over.

July 1932, new Chief of Police Kurt Melcher began implementing the strict
Catholic policies of the new Von Papen government and announced “an extensive
campaign against Berlin’s depraved nightlife”. All “amusements with dancing of
a homosexual nature” were now subject to an earlier closing time of 10pm and
many bars and dance halls turned themselves into private clubs in an attempt to
sidestep the new laws.

October 1932 Chief of Police ordered a ban on same-sex couples dancing in
public.

Fearing for his family and livelihood, Ludwig Konjetschni closed the Eldorado
and handed the premises over to the local Sturmabteilung (SA) – many of whom had
worked for him and he placed his future in their hands. The SA turned the
Eldorado into their new local headquarters.

January 1933 Hermann Goering ordered the closure of gay bars, and gay men and
transvestites were routinely arrested and imprisoned.

1933. Ossy Gades was working as a man at the DéDé Bar on Bülowstraße. It was
part-owned by a Sturmabteilung (SA) Lieutenant and, by 1934 renamed the
Bülow-Krug. Despite this Gades was arrested several times and beaten for having
dressed in women’s clothes. He explained that he was not homosexual, and went
out en-femme only when accompanied by his wife. He was still regarded as
homosexual.

July 1933. Despite his gift, Ludwig Konjetschni was not safe. He and his
family fled Germany.
30 June/1 July ex-Eldorado customer, Ernst Röhm deposed,
arrested and executed by his own Nazi Party. The Night of the
Long Knives.

May 1935. Ossy Gades sent to Lichtenburg concentration camp. This camp was
one of the first and housed mostly political prisoners and gay men. He died
there a year later.

Storer says that Wyndham Lewis’ visit to Eldorado was during his 1921 visit
to Berlin; Woods opts for Lewis’ much shorter 1930 visit. I have gone with the
former.

Cabaret Berlin and Mel Gordon disagree on opening dates. I have gone with the
earlier in each case.

Unlike Paris' Le Carrousel, only 15 years later, we do not know many of the names of those who worked in the various Eldorados.

Also unlike at Le Carrousel, the performers were not able to take female hormones. Hormones were being developed during the 1930s, by German, Bristish and US scientists, but did not become available until after the Second World War. See Adolf Butenandt.

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About Zagria

I have a social science degree. I spent several years in the 70s doing Gay Lib counselling, and moved on to organizing trans groups. I was rejected by the Clarke Institute (now CAMH) in the mid 1980s, probably because I do not match either of their stereotypes, but was accepted by Russel Reid on our first meeting in late 1987, and had surgery from James Dalrymple some months later. I have mainly worked as an IT consultant. I have been with the same husband for 45 years.